Atlantica Aegean Blue

We have just had a week stay at the Atlantica Aegean blue. The staff were all polite and attentive. Caithlyn at the restaurant was so nice and made us feel so welcome every time we saw her and took time to talk to us. Michalis at the pool bar was always fun and chatty and made the best cocktails. I went to the spa and had a treatment from Rhoda which was amazing and I highly recommend. The rooms were clean and stocked well and the main restaurant had plenty of choice for all. The itialian à la carte served delish food.

PROS

• All Staff seem extremely motivated, happy and go the extra mile. We didn't encounter bad service at all the whole week. Staff particularly great within their roles: Ashton (Entertainer) & Maria (Restaurant)
• Reception and check-in process was one of the best we've encountered before. Speedy, informative, helpful. We particularly appreciated the hot buffet at midnight on arrival with two hungry children.
• Lots of areas and in particular, pools, to chose from so you are in control of whether you have a relaxing day or a busy day of entertainment. The infinity pool in the blue zone overlooking the sea is lovely and children are also allowed down there which is good for nap time
• The food is excellent. I really don't understand the people who have negatively commented on the food. The choice is vast, it's incorrect that "everything is in a sauce". If you can't find something delicious that you like you are an EXTREMELY fussy eater. We had a night in the Italian which was excellent and had a sunset table overlooking the infinity pool and sea.
• We were in block G. It was quiet, peaceful and had a nice view. Although definitely not a "partial sea view" as the hedgerow is so overgrown you can only see approx. 2cm of distant sea. It needs a good trim as it looks scruffy, regardless of blocking the view.
• I researched this hotel a lot, having previously stayed next door at the holiday village. This hotel is better in my opinion. There is also a lot going on all of the time (entertainment) which was hard to find out about online so we took a gamble hoping there would be stuff for our toddler and baby. There was plenty.
• Our family room was spacious and comfortable
• Buggy assistance on departure as well as arrival. We have stayed in many 5* hotels where they only help you on arrival!?
• The waterpark. I imagine if you have children old enough to use this it's good. We spent half a day there but our children were too young to even enjoy the splashpark
• Very near to Tsampika Beach which is a very good blue flag beach. The busses start at 10am (I think) and 4pm on way home so we booked a taxi which was 20 euros each way.
• The iced coffees from the pool bars, yum!
• The ice cream parlour. So popular and we understand why. The cherry yoghurt flavour is good.
• The bingo prizes were worth playing for
• The paw patrol party in replacement of the mini disco was good and well attended
• The lobby outside bar is LOVELY. Cocktails are excellent. You can get some nibbles too. It's a really nice, chilled vibe pre-dinner. Difficult to get a table after dinner and we went in low season.

CONS

• The entertainment is so inconsistent. They advertise a bubble party for example, we got our 2-year old really excited for it at breakfast and then found out at 10:30am that it wasn't happening at 11am and was moved to Saturday, days later. It's really hard to manage children's expectations when this happens. Also with inconsistency, some evenings were very good entertainment and some evenings were so bad that even the hotel Entertainment team pre-warned us to get an early night as not worth staying up for. I actually think the evening entertainment in general is very poor at this hotel, also including the kids mini disco one of the worst I've ever seen and I've worked in European hotels for 10+ years previously.
• The spa workers do daily pool walks which seems to irritate the majority of sunbathers they approach. Their sales technique is pushy and unwanted on a daily basis. They need to take some tips from the entertainers whose pool walks arounds weren't irritating at all. I did book and have a massage on day 3 hoping they'd stop approaching us... but they didn't.
• The pool tiles are dangerous. They need replacing as they are a trip hazard. They are particularly bad around the baby pool and the infinity pool.
• Our bedroom door didn't lock (in G block) so if someone had a key they would of been able to get in during the night. It's our fault, we didn't report this throughout the stay to get it fixed as we were worried we'd be asked to move rooms and couldn't get bothered with the hassle of repacking everything mid-week
• The TUI team is poor. The rep (older lady, curly hair) had no idea about the local area or the hotel. She just said the beach was "round the corner" - what does that even mean!? I want to know how to get there and if it's sand or pebbles. How do you not know?!?! The kids club don't run things because they said people don't turn up. My son wanted to go to the mini disco (because the Atlantica one was so bad) and they said they don't run it because it's at 4pm and no one comes. They don't actually provide anything else at all for under 3 year olds apart from a pool toy session, which we were aware of and wasn't an additional charge
• Nowhere to park the pram so we carried the pram upstairs and downstairs twice a day which was a challenge
• It's super expensive to keep your own room on on the last day - we're talking approx. 190 euros for mid length duration. The courtesy room we ended up getting was down by the play pool (no where near reception) which meant re-lugging all our changing bags down there etc etc. EFFORT when you're trying to get 4 people quickly ready before a coach transfer.
• The restaurant is dated, not 5* and needs a major refurb this winter whilst it's quiet!

SUMMARY I would highly recommend this hotel, particularly if your children are 3+ years. We had a great time. The cons make it 4* not 5* in my opinion. I think it's getting 5* because of the facilities available on-site, the staff and the food and nothing else. And if you are deciding between the TUI holiday village next door, or this hotel, then this one wins without doubt.

The hotel is beautiful and around 30 mins from the aiport via taxi. Our room was a excellent size and very clean. The buffet is good and has enough variation. There are 3 a la cartes to try if you can. Staff told us only one was included but if they could accommodate you they would. We did manage to get in all 3 and all are good. The Asian and Italians are especially good! Theres a great ice cream bar that's open late which was great - better than most the desserts you got.

The snack bar by the pool is brilliant and blows the buffet out the water. We had lunch there every day as it was so nice and didnt just do burgers and hotdogs like most.

The bar staff are mixed. Some are a bit abrupt, others very friendly. The main issue with the hotel were the drinks. The quality changes so much from drink to drink depending on bar / staff. No real consistency. You might have a delicious cocktail. Order it again and it tastes like petrol!

Some of the bars also sturggled at times with glassware. I laughed as at the swim up bar the staff ran out of plastic cups and ended up giving my partner a coffee paper cup of prosecco.

The pools are good but a bit chilly. But they cater for everyone. from a splash pool to swim up bar. You also only get new towels every other day rather than daily which is unusual in my experience. Theres a mini mart inside which is handy if you need supplies like we did for our baby. Evening entertainment is mixed.

The only other slight nit pick is the lifts seem to have a mind of there own. Reviews saying waiting for 20 mins seem a bit dramatic but they would take you to random floors.